Is a will necessary in a marriage?

NIMAN

I was reading a thread on here about someone who died and left their spouse with a few difficulties, and some of the replies asked "did they not leave a will".

Got me thinking, do I or my spouse actually need one?

Surely if I die, my wife would get everything that is mine, including any life assurance and money from my employer.

Or am I assuming too much? If I would want everything to go to her, is there a need for a will?

chops018

http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/1965/en/act/pub/0027/sec0111.html#sec111

NIMAN

We have children, so how is it that my wife would only get one third? I assume its because the remaining two thirds are for the kids?

But they are infants, and if I was to die tonight, how would it work? Surely she would get it all, as she will be looking after them?

So would you advise a will then? I assume if you want to leave her 100% a will is needed.

padraig.od

50%? What happens to the other 50%?

ResearchWill

NIMAN wrote: »

We have children, so how is it that my wife would only get one third? I assume its because the remaining two thirds are for the kids?

But they are infants, and if I was to die tonight, how would it work? Surely she would get it all, as she will be looking after them?

So would you advise a will then? I assume if you want to leave her 100% a will is needed.

Not really, what if you don't die till your kids are over 18 then they may end up suing your estate for proper provision.

Also what happens if ye both die, at the same time, have ye decided on what will happen in that situation. If you have children and assets then a will is more than a good idea it a necessity.

Many people think a it's ok I have no money anyway, but there is usually a house, insurance policies, work payments etc., it's a good idea to chat it out and then get local solicitor to draft up a will, also good idea to review every few years as children and yourselves get older.

chops018

I edit my post above, that section only applies where a spouse dies with a valid will but fails to make provision for the other spouse. The legal right share of a spouse and children take priority over gifts, bequests and shares on intestacy.

If you die without a valid will however, which is the question you asked, then you die intestate and so the rules of intestacy will apply.

http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/1965/en/act/pub/0027/sec0067.html#sec67

Would be the relevant section. There is other sections dealing with intestacy also.

ResearchWill

padraig.od wrote: »

50%? What happens to the other 50%?

It's a legal rights share, no matter what the will says if no children wife must get 50%, if it's intestacy, and no children then wife gets it all anyway.

Milk & Honey

NIMAN wrote: »

I was reading a thread on here about someone who died and left their spouse with a few difficulties, and some of the replies asked "did they not leave a will".

Got me thinking, do I or my spouse actually need one?

Surely if I die, my wife would get everything that is mine, including any life assurance and money from my employer.

Or am I assuming too much? If I would want everything to go to her, is there a need for a will?

There are practical difficulties when someone dies intestate. All property owned by the deceased person becomes vested in the president of the High Court. A grant of administration has to be taken out in order for the next of kin to get the property.

A second issue is that if your wife predeceases you by a short time say if you were both injured in the same incident and you lived for two hours longer, the next of kin rules might apply in a way you wouldn't wish.

chops018

Milk & Honey wrote: »

There are practical difficulties when someone dies intestate. All property owned by the deceased person becomes vested in the president of the High Court. A grant of administration has to be taken out in order for the next of kin to get the property.

A second issue is that if your wife predeceases you by a short time say if you were both injured in the same incident and you lived for two hours longer, the next of kin rules might apply in a way you wouldn't wish.

O'Dwyer .v. Keegan - where the husband died while his wife was in a coma, and she died two hours after him - was held that the LRS was automatically triggered and no positive action was needed by the wife and the SC held that she was entitled to half of her husbands estate even though they were both dead. Raises a lot of complications with half of his estate going over to her will, or to her next of kin if she died intestate.

Bear in mind, these are all where the spouse had a valid will and didn't die intestate. Intestate is fairly straightforward if there is a surviving spouse and/or children, apart from the grant of administration stuff as was mentioned above. But it can get messy if there is no relatively close next of kin.

Victor

pixiebean22 wrote: »

My boyfriend's father passed away in October, fortunately he had a Will (quite a number of assets) and our eyes have really been opened to the probate process, so much so that as soon as the division of the assets is finalised my boyfriend is going to a solicitor to make his own Will. Unfortunately it's not until you go through the process that you realise the importance of leaving a Will. If you passed away suddenly with no Will, you would be leaving quite a sticky situation for your already grief-stricken family.

Why is he waiting? If he dies tomorrow (without wanting to be morbid), you get nothing!

Less selfishly, while he may not have those assets yet, he is entitled to them, so he should have a will in place to decide what happens to those assets, should he die.

chops018 wrote: »

O'Dwyer .v. Keegan - where the husband died while his wife was in a coma, and she died two hours after him - was held that the LRS was automatically triggered and no positive action was needed by the wife and the SC held that she was entitled to half of her husbands estate even though they were both dead. Raises a lot of complications with half of his estate going over to her will, or to her next of kin if she died intestate.

Bear in mind, these are all where the spouse had a valid will and didn't die intestate. Intestate is fairly straightforward if there is a surviving spouse and/or children, apart from the grant of administration stuff as was mentioned above. But it can get messy if there is no relatively close next of kin.

One can word a lease to take into account the possibility of contemporary(?) death.

Victor

pixiebean22 wrote: »

He's waiting because he has spent the past 10 months running from the solicitor to the accountant and getting nowhere but very very frustrated so to be perfectly honest, he just doesn't have the time or the head space to do his own Will right now. Unfortunately, his extremely greedy brother has made a very simple Will a very complicated and stressful process for my boyfriend.

He needs to take the brother out of the loop.

All he needs to do is say X goes to A, Y goes to B and Z to C, with everything else to 'my mammy'. He can then write a new will when the dust has settled.

dats_right

Just to clarify the basic position when somebody dies intestate (i.e. without a Will) is as follows:

1. Dies with living spouse - no children = Spouse takes all.

2. Dies with living spouse and children = spouse takes 2/3rds and children divide remaining 1/3rd between them.